November 28, 2007

I don't know what's wrong with me. Either I'm still suffering from jet lag or I'm discovering the ramifications of subsisting solely on leftover turkey sandwiches for an entire week. My sinuses are killing me. My stomach has declared mutiny. And for the past 5 days, I've embarked on a farting odyssey that is seriously causing my wife to reevaluate everything about our relationship.

What to do? Clearly, I can't write. I can barely even see straight. However, that hasn't stopped my from surfing the internet and discovering a surfeit of entertaining links. And because I love all of you so much, I thought I'd share some of my recent favorites with you.

Here's an insult to fathers everywhere. Details has put Kevin Federline on this month's cover of their "50 Most Influential Men Under 45" issue. Kevin and Larry Birkhead were touted as "The Good Fathers" and slotted in the #7 slot! In the profile (which touts how great a father he is,) Kevin goes on to say that his experience as a daddy helps him to "keeps things in perspective." Umm..is it just me or does anyone remember that he was a father BEFORE he impregnated Britney? Does he make as much of a fuss over the kids he has that aren't worth millions of dollars?

Public radio in general and NPR in particular are not widely regarded as arbiters of cutting-edge popular culture. But on a newly launched, decidedly 21st-century music website, NPR puts its eclectic tastes to work for you, providing an amazingly organized treasure trove of free music to satisfy almost any sensibility. This might be the coolest thing NPR has ever done!

When I was a little kid, I'd always bring my pet rock to school for show-and-tell. Never did it occur to me to bring an Olson twin.

I've yet to see I’m Not There, Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biopic. I hear my pretend girlfriend Cate Blanchett is absolutely incredible in it. However, the soundtrack to the film is blowing me away---33 tracks’ worth of Bob Dylan covers that are a perfect tribute to the man who first made these songs great. Eddie Vedder’s rendition of “All Along the Watchtower,” Yo La Tengo's melodic take on "Fourth Time Around" and Cat Power’s breezy stroll through “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” are just some of the highlights. Listen to them all here.

I hate the Wiggles. I love rap music. Put them together and you might find yourself body popping with your toddler.

Patriots QB Tom Brady is having one of the greatest seasons in the history of the NFL. He's also got leading man looks and, if that's not enough, spends his free time dating Gisele. However, he's also the same guy who got Bridget Moynahan pregnant and dumped her. For the same reason that we hate Billy Crudup for bailing out on Mary-Louise Parker when she was pregnant, BossLady and I hate Tom Brady. Can you really blame Bridget for being bitter? No wonder she wants to raise her son gay. No man betrays the Bridge and gets away with it!

When I was in college at Berkeley, my parents wanted me to call home every Sunday night. However, that night was always reserved for getting high and heading over to the Domino's where one of our buddies was the night manager. Aside from making our own stoner pizzas, we'd play football with giant globs of pizza dough. Fun times. These days, college kids chat online with their folks or send video updates of what's happening their lives. Sometimes, the results aren't what you'd expect.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the times when we all go home and spend time with our dysfunctional families. Instead of getting drunk on egg nog and making your mother weep, why not preempt matters with this useful dysfunctional family letter generator?

Hip-hop rivalries have a fierce history. West Coast rap vs. East Coast rap. 2Pac vs. Biggie. Nas vs. Jay-Z. G-Unit vs. The Game. Well, apparently one of the least-known rivalries was between Kanye West and 70-year-old daredevil legend Evel Kneivel. It all started over Kanye's "Touch the Sky" video when he dressed up as "Evel Kanyevel" and tried to jump over a canyon on a motorcycle. The real Evel Kneivel was pissed, filed a lawsuit, and called Kanye a "worthless piece of crap." Well, it looks like the feud got settled before bullets started flying. The two recently met and made the peace. The photo alone is worth a thousand words.

BossLady and I are debating how to introduce the concept of Santa Claus to the Peanut. In doing some research online (because that's what nerds like me do,) I found the history of the phrase, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus." I'd always heard it but never really knew what it meant. It's a fascinating story dating back to 1897.

Looking for a great time-killer site that also allows you to help those in need? Free Rice is an amazing online vocabulary test. For every correct answer, 20 grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Program. Thank God it's for a good cause because the game is highly addictive. My high score is level 46. What's yours?

In other news, my curiosity finally got the better of me and I joined facebook this past week. I couldn't believe how many of you guys are on there! I thought it was just for college kids and Japanese schoolgirls.

Like my daughter, I find everything fascinating for about a nanosecond so I'm curious to see how soon it will be before my interest wanes. What do you think? Is facebook a useful application for the new millennium or will it soon go the way of Kozmo.com, the wood television, and corduroy shirts?